Pirate King
by Grimdivide
Summary: Here's a tale of the King of Pirates... Read and Review.
1. The Pirate King

**This is my first story in a long long while... And I don't own rights to Star Fox.**

**Caim: Yeah, you're a major slacker... And you spend way too much time Rping... Loser.**

**Shut up Caim.**

**Skye: You ditched that one story for what exactly?**

**I got bored.**

**Kayla: Typical**

**Shut up. I still make the story as I see fit. No one had better ask about it if they know what I'm talking about.**

**Caim: So, are we going to get this one on the way?**

**FINE!**

_**The role of Skye is played or voiced by Johnny Young Bosch (Skye: Great, I'm the Black Power Ranger...), Caim by Rodger Craig Smith (Caim: Italian.), and Kayla... hmmm... how about Karen Strassman (Kayla: That works)... Right, so these are the voice actors I'm imagining them with... No, they have no part in:**_

**The Pirate King**

**Chapter 1: A Work In Progress**

It's been a few years since the end of the Anglar Blitz and Corneria has enjoyed this period of peace, taking it's chance to recover. Fox looked out the window of the glass elevator as he went to the top of the government building. After Krystal disappeared after the final battle, the hero had not been the same. He still kept the peace and did his best to maintain it, but the vulpine couldn't help but feel that a piece of himself was missing. Fox could never forget the blue vixen he had saved on Sauria. He looked out the glass window into the sky. "Krystal... Where did you go?" he asked as if believing the vixen would hear him, wherever she was.

The elevator pinged as Fox reached the top floor and the door opened. "Good morning, Fox," General Hare greeted. Fox smiled at the sight of his old friend.

"Hey, Peppy," Fox greeted the old rabbit, "how ya been?"

"I've been good, Fox," Peppy answered with a friendly smile, "How have you been doing? I haven't seen you since the Anglar War ended."

"I've been busy," Fox answered, "There's plenty of pirates still wandering the Lylat System. I've been arresting some." That was partially true, but the vulpine was really searching for that blue vixen that had taken his heart away.

"I see," Peppy sighed, clearly seeing through Fox's excuse to look for Krystal, but it wouldn't be good to talk about her now. "I've called you here for two reasons."

"What? You didn't call me up just to hang out?" Fox joked.

"Well, that was one part," Peppy admitted, "but there have also several robberies of highly guarded vessels in the system recently, some of them were government and military ships."

"What did they take?" Fox asked, crossing his arms and getting down to bussiness.

"Well, it ranges from weapons and intelligence to priceless items," Peppy answered. "The usual, but it's how they do it that baffles me."

"How so?"

"Nobody has ever caught a glimpse of the culprits face, nor has anyone got a clue as to how many there are," Peppy walked behind his desk and sat down. "Your mission is to find out where these pirates are hiding and arrest them."

The vulpine couldn't help but cock a questioning eyebrow. "What's so special about these pirates?" he questioned. "Besides the weapons, why do you want us to go after them?"

Peppy sighed. "Some of the brass believe they might be remnants of the Venom army, doing hit and run attacks... But that doesn't make sense because if that were true, there'd be more deaths than thefts. I need you to rest their fears before some official does something stupid and chance these pirates down with a fully armed cruiser and possibly start another war."

"So you want us to make the capture quietly," Fox said.

Peppy nodded. "That's right. Or just get a picture of the culprit's face and bounty hunters can do the rest."

"Alright, me and my team will head out first thing-" at that moment, the power went out. "What the?"

_Elsewhere, About An Hour Earlier_

A green eyed crow wearing an orange jacket with white stripes on the sleeves and dark blue undershirt walked the streets of Corneria, taking in the sights of the big city. "Ah, nothing like some down time before a job," Caim said to himself. He stretched out his arms before he reached into a pocket of his forest green cargo pants and pulled out a vibrating cell phone. "Hello? This is thief slash tech wizard slash gunslinger extraordinaire, la sorprendente Caim (the amazing Caim) speaking."

"You really are full of yourself, birdbrain," Kayla on the other line spoke bitterly.

"Ah, Kayla, I know you know it's true," Caim responded, "but I can't be blamed being born so god damn awesome." The crow sighed. "It's a curse." He could hear Kayla grumble random obsenities about the crow. "What was that?" Caim asked. "Are you trying to finally say that you love Skye? Or are you confessing to me? Sorry, Kayla, but I don't think it'll work out between us," he said in mock sadness.

"GO TO HELL YOU BLASTED CROW!" she screamed into his ear in a deathly threatening tone. Caim laughed inwardly, knowing that she was blushing as deep red as her fur. When Kayla cooled down, she spoke again. "You remember the plan don't you?"

"Yeah, I got all the equipment here," he said, referring to the duffel bag he had slung around his shoulder.

"Then why aren't you at the government building?" Kayla questioned. "I'm already here and set to go in."

"Does that mean you're dressed as a buissiness woman?" Caim asked, imagining the voluptous red vixen in a suit, skirt, and... "You know, considering that you're the one that's always something like a nurse, secratary, or I think once a nun, or anything for that matter... Are you into role playing?" He smirked, knowing that'd piss her off.

"PERVERT!" she exclaimed in an embarrassed tone. "Just get down here, damnit!" With that, she hung up. Caim knew he'd regret it later, but Kayla's reaction is always worth it.

A red vixen in a gray business suit and skirt with black high heels. The hair on her head was combed down with the bangs framing her face in a heart shape. Her blue eyes were as clear as beautiful as the sky above. Her looks could earn the rights of many stares... but that was not the case in this instance. Rather, the curious eyes were aimed toward here due to the outburst to the bird she just called. The clenched teeth and the look that showed murderous thinking made people want to keep their distance from the vixen.

While Kayla tried to calm herself down, she thought about what Skye was doing at the moment and looked at the government building. What they were looking for were information on pirates they captured, but never found the hideouts of. In other words, treasure that was left unclaimed. Of course, they could probably get the information from another source, but as Caim would say: 'Where's the fun in that?'

Kayla sighed, out the of three of them, she was the most responsible. Skye and Caim, she believed, were nothing but children looking for adventure. Then again, she also knew the pair knew when to be serious when the time came. They always pull through in the end.

An hour later, Kayla checked her watch. "Almost time to go in," she said to herself. With a glance at the door, she saw Caim, changed into a janitor disguise, inside the building. "How..." she began to question how he got there so fast without her noticing, but best not think about it. The red vixen got up from her seat, taking her suitcase, and went over to the building. Inside, she went over to the front desk.

"May I help you?" the feline secretary asked.

"Yes, I have an appointment with General Hare," Kayla answered. Earlier, Caim had hacked the systems and placed in a fake meeting with the General under a false name. "My name is Kay Lin."

After a few moments of checking it out, the secretary finally said, "Yes, Ms. Lin, I see you here for 10:35 appointment. Let me give you clearance and you may go ahead to the top floor, but I'm afraid that General Hare is in a meeting with a Mr. Mcloud."

Kayla blinked as she took the key card that would give her access to the elevator. Fox McCloud, here? "I understand, thank you." With that, she walked off to the elevator and pressed for the 23rd floor. If Skye was right, that's where the main frame for the security would be. Speaking of Skye... "Skye, come in," she spoke to the hidden earpiece.

"Miss me already?" came the response.

"Where are you?" she asked, getting straight to the point.

"Oh, just looking over the test lab before I head up to the next floor. Those reflector shields could come in handy," he answered. "You going to security?"

"Yeah, as soon as Caim cuts the power, I'll start my job," she told him, "then you can go ahead and hack the General's computer. Then you can grab whatever toys you want later... You know going to this place is completely unnesseccary."

"True, but who knows what sort of info you can get from Peppy's terminal," Skye told her. "Not only information on the pirates... But I'd like to know what the Cornerian military is planning to do. After the Anglar War, I have the feeling that some politicians are starting to get paranoid. Some planets have been boosting their defenses ever since Andross was finished off."

"You're concerned about other planets?"

"I'm concerned that someone might start another war... It's good to be aware of things so I can stay out of the way. I'm not interested in getting involved, but I'm also curious as to what will happen in the future."

"I think there's more to it," Kayla said, not fully believing him. The elevator door opened and she stepped out. A guard noticed her and began walking toward her, saying something about that this floor was restricted to security personnel only.

"Hmph, maybe I'll raise an army to crush all the others," Skye joked, then his tone grew serious. "The power should be out in three, two... one."

"Power's out," Fox stated the obvious, surprised.

"I'm sure it's just a blown fuse," Peppy told him. "Someone will fix it here in a minute."

Fox nodded, surely it's just a temporary thing. Though, something in the back of his head told him that something was about to happen. He didn't know what, just something.

After about ten minutes, the power came back on. "See, nothing to worry about," Peppy told Fox.

Kayla was at the main security terminal with the entire room full of knocked out security guards. As soon as the power came back, she pulged in Caim's jump drive and downloaded a virus that would knock out all security camras and lasers. Now Skye could go into Peppy's office and there'd be no footage on it for the whole day. The alarms would be shut off as would any other security measures that were in the building. Now, if Caim were doing what she thought he was doing, he'd be setting up the escape. As for this red vixen, she would wait for the download to be completed and then just walk out like nothing happened.

Caim sighed as he exited the building and went into an alley. "How am I supposed to show off?" he asked no one in particular. The crow looked at his watch. "Five more minutes and Skye should be out... Unless something were to go wrong of course. Something we didn't count on... Why am I talking to myself? Well, I do make fun conversations but... Huh... I need a rest when I get back to the ship."

Skye frowned when he looked out the vent to see Fox McCloud and Peppy in the room. "Well, didn't expect this," he muttered under his breath. Good thing he came prepared. A fight with the legendary Fox McCloud was not on his to do list. With that in mind, Skye slowly and quietly opened the vent with one hand and reached behind himself with the other. He took a canister of knock out gas from his belt and pulled the ring, then dropped it down near Fox.

"Huh?" was all Fox said before the canister popped open and blew out gas with a loud hissing sound. It was over the moment the vulpine caught wiff of the gas and fell to the floor, knocked out. Peppy was next to fall to sleep as the cloud of gas spread through the room.

With those two knocked out, Skye jumped down with his breather mask on. "No problem," he muttered as he walked over to Peppy's computer. He plugged in Caim's jump drive and let the device do all the work. When all the files Skye wanted was downloaded, he took out the jump drive and walked over to the elevator, taking it down to the bottom floor. Before he reached the bottom, Skye removed his mask and clutched it tightly in his paw. Now all he had to do was walk out and not be noticed. Good thing he wasn't overloaded with a bunch of gadgets. As long as no one notices the second gas canister he brought, the rebreather mask clipped to his side, and his wrist mounted anchor.

Kayla and Caim were waiting outside, standing by a fancy blue car that Caim had 'borrowed' for the time being. "So, will he be coming out anytime-" Caim saw Skye coming, "Never mind."

As soon as Skye got to them, they all got in the car and took off, back to their ship.

Fox groaned as he awakened, the effects of the knock out gas worn off. Peppy was up too, already going through his desk and calling security, which he was having trouble getting into contact with. The hare cursed, giving up and turning to his computer which now displayed a crown with a message under it, saying:

CONGRATULATIONS! YOU'VE JUST LOST YOUR VALUABLES, DATA, SECRETS, AND OTHER THINGS OF MEANING AND VALUE. BE HONORED TO BE ROBBED BY THE ONE AND ONLY PIRATE KING... HAVE A NICE DAY.

Fox blinked. "Pirate King?" he questioned. "What did they take?"

Peppy's eyes widened. "They must've hacked my computer," he turned to Fox, "My computer has data on almost every operation of the Corneian Army. It also has details on our planetary defenses... Fox, I need you to find this Pirate King and arrest him and bring back that data."

"But how would I go about doing that?" Fox questioned. "Not like we got a look at the guy."

"You'll have to find a way, Fox," Peppy told him. "I'll give you as much information as I can gather, but you have to go, now."

Fox nodded. "You can count on me." With that, he headed off, out of the building, then to the Great Fox.

What sort of story shall unfold for Fox in his hunt for the Pirate King?

_Give me a review... Damn... This is like the first thing I've written in like a year. I'm out of practice, I used to be able to make 5,000 words per chapter... I don't know if I'll really make a story out of this. Maybe I will, maybe I won't._


	2. Treasure Hunters and Magic Tricks

**Well here we are. Chapter II.**

**Caim: What's with the Roman Numerals?**

**I like them.**

**Caim: ….Why?**

**Why do you ask stupid questions?**

**Caim: You made me that way. To annoy people.**

…**.*Sigh* Whatever... I don't know if I said this before, but I don't want to repeat the disclaimer. You should know that I do NOT own Star Fox. Now read and review.**

**Chapter II:**

**Treasure Hunters and Magic Tricks**

Caim blew a sigh of relief when he, Skye, and Kayla arrived back on the ship. He felt like taking a nap. The mission wasn't exhausting, just boring to the narcissistic crow pirate thief, technician, engineer, and a bunch of other things a person can call the bird. If he weren't apart of the crew, Skye and Kayla knew they wouldn't get too far. The two knew how to make repairs and had good hacking skills, but those were the places where Caim shined the most, that and gunslinging. Caim is also a loyal friend and a great person for anyone to have their back. Skye couldn't ask for a better best friend even since childhood when they met on Corneria. Now here they are, two twenty-one year old vulpine and crow with a twenty year old vixen all on a crew together to become the greatest pirates in existence. An invaluable ally and a man that dreams of being the greatest thief to ever live. Who better to have at their side than Caim?

Of course, everyone on this crew had their talents and quirks. It's quality over quantity when it comes to this crew of space pirates. Though, there are two other requirements that the Pirate King, Skye, looks for in others. A strong sense of justice and adventure.

Kayla, the fiery red vixen Caim and Skye met on the streets of Kew just a few years back, is the best fighter of the group despite her appearance. Her keen instincts give her an edge in combat. Even though the crow and vulpine sometimes tease her for anything, neither of them want to get into a fist-fight with her lest they want to be put in the infirmary for a couple days. Another plus to this vixen is her lustful appearance with a full chest, a beautiful face, and curvy figure that any man would stare dumbly at, but there is one set back. Kayla, despite knowing she has such a voluptuous look, is too shy and insecure about using her body, and coupled with her temper and feelings toward perverts, it always ends ugly for someone that hits on her. She has also never been the type to ever let herself get into romance, but she does have feelings of some kind toward Skye that Caim is aware of, much to her dismay. Although, unknown to either Caim or Skye, the young vixen has yet to even have her first kiss. Like Caim, she is a loyal ally with a kind heart and will follow Skye to the end, no matter what happens.

The silver fox, Skye, the captain of the crew and ship, the _Vela_. Born on Corneria, at the young age of six, he had lost his mother in a car accident. As for his father, Skye had never met him, but knew from his mother that he was a Cerinian. According to the vulpine's mother, his father had disappeared without a trace not long after the kit's birth. Skye was then raised in an orphanage where he met a pickpocket and now best friend, Caim. The two of them were child prodigies in their own rights and as they grew older, their talents became more and more apparent. Skye was a born leader with an extremely high IQ with a talent toward planning and strategy. Skye is a fast learner and is a truly talented individual, even using his smarts to improve his combat abilities. His Cerinian blood also gives him mystical powers that he has yet to truly master, but he can work well with what he has. His most important features though are his charisma and silver tongue. Not only is he capable of getting others to follow him, Skye is a great liar. He has that handsome face you can trust and that feeling of hope that radiates only off of people like Fox McCloud. One last notable characteristic of Skye is his strong sense of justice. Despite being a pirate, he'll help those that need him and take down corrupted leaders or businesses if he can. To his ally's, Skye is a savior, to his enemies, they see the face of a devil.

Now enough about the captain and crew. What are space pirates without their ship, the _Vela? _Caim's pride and joy that was at first just a decommissioned frigate turned into what the crow claims to be the fastest ship there is. Though it lacks in weapons, it makes up for in speed and a state-of-the-art cloaking system. There are twenty-six missile pods that fire off flares and missiles, mostly flares (they're cheaper), and two forward guns. Strong shielding and a hanger for two Arwings. One was a black and orange colored Interceptor-class Arwing christened the _Corvus_ for Caim's personal use, and the other was a standard Arwing II, customized for two people to sit in, colored sliver and black for Skye's use. The _Vela_ is not ever meant to be used in combat, but is a great escape and infiltration ship for any pirate to use. The ship came with a four bed rooms, one bathroom with a shower, a kitchen, a command center, and a special room for Caim to make useful gadgets called the Janitor's closet... it's not that big... Even though there are flaws for this ship some could point out, Caim loves it with every fiber of his being and would do whatever it took to save this ship if it were about to go down. A great ship any captain would be proud to have.

It took only a few years to gather this small group of thieves and ship, but Skye managed. Looking around as he stood in the middle of the bridge, the silver vulpine couldn't help but smile slightly. An ego boost and a feeling of accomplishment never hurt anyone. As for the confrontation with the legendary Fox McCloud, Skye would have to say he got lucky for getting the drop on the hero. A direct confrontation with someone like Fox probably wouldn't have ended well. Not that Skye was completely sure he'd lose in a fight with Fox, but time was not something he could have afforded. Though due to Fox being there, Skye was sure he'd be searching any ships on Corneria and would be keeping an eye on any ship that would be taking off right about now. So now Skye had to choose. Stay on Corneria and wait for things to cool down or take off with the chance of being followed. On one hand, if they stayed, Cornerian forces might search their ship, looking for the stolen files. Though Skye and the crew could try to pass off as just travelers, but the ship weaponry and Arwings would bring up questions. If the crew were to take off now before the army has the chance to start searching ships then they could probably get away before any problems and they'd be off before anyone could say anything. Still that could increase suspicion of this ship holding the culprits. Out of the choices, Skye thought that leaving now would probably be the best option for the time being. With the _Vela,_ they could get to another planet quickly to hideout at for the time being.

"Where we heading?" Kayla asked, taking Skye out of his thoughts, the vixen's azure eyes gazing into his golden orbs.

"Set a course for Kew," Skye ordered.

Kayla nodded. "Aye aye," she said, turning around and beginning to work on the controls.

As the ship began to lift off the ground, Skye took his seat on the captains chair. He pressed a button on the arm rest, making a holographic screen appear in front of him. The vulpine pressed a few more buttons and uploaded the stolen files. "Now, who were the unlucky pirates to be captured," he muttered as he first opened the criminal registry and then he opened a second screen to his left, showing information about where Cornerian forces are stationed and defenses. He scrolled through both screens at the same time until something caught his eye on the criminal registry. "Nevran," Skye muttered the captured pirate's name. He knew that Nevran had been caught, but his treasure was never found. According to information gathered by Cornerian forces from Nevran's ship's logs, Nevran had been to two planets the most: Aquas and Titania. Either one could hide the loot easily with Aquas' vast oceans and Titania's shifting sands. It'd take years to find where the treasure would be on either planet, but how did Nevran keep track where his treasure would be? Perhaps Nevran made two stashes and hid them in two different locations. No, it'd be difficult for anyone to keep track of two.

Skye sat in thought, pondering about what Nevran had done. The best place would most likely be Aquas. If Nevran used something to track the treasure, it'd be for a planet that didn't have consistent ion storms and Aquas had less dangerous wild life. Problem is, Skye lacked any equipment for any ocean exploring. That'd be a problem for later though. Skye sighed and continued looking through the files while the _Vela_ flew through space toward Kew. Maybe they could find someone with oceanic excavation gear.

_Meanwhile, on Venom_

Wolf emptied his shot of scotched. "Another," he told the bartender. As ordered, another shot came his way. The ace of Star Wolf quickly emptied the shot glass and set it down. Two months and no job had come his way. No one needed or wanted to hire the infamous Star Wolf due to their shady reputation and because there was not much need for mercenary work. Wolf, Leon, and Panther were right now just living off what they had until work came their way. A new bounty had come up not to long ago about someone calling themselves the 'Pirate King' offering a large reward from the Cornerian army for the retrieval of stolen data. The sheer amount made Wolf wonder just what kind of data was stolen, but he didn't know anyone that called themselves a King of Pirates. Still, he considered keeping an ear out in the underworld for anyone calling themselves that. He suspected that Fox would also help out in the search since it's the Cornerian army that lost some precious data. Perhaps the mercenary could sell the data to the highest bidder, depending on what's on the thing.

"Hey, watch where you're goin!" someone yelled in the bar. Wolf looked over to see a large bear looking down on a 6'8 tall figure hidden by a long black hooded trench coat over by the door. It seemed that the figure just bumped into the bear by accident. The figure said nothing to the bear that was in a drunken rage. "You better say you're sorry," the grizzly growled. Wolf just went back to his drink. The bear received no answer from the vulpine under the hood, the fact the man was a fox was the only apparent thing. "Hey, say something!" the bear demanded.

"Step aside," the vulpine said calmly, "there is no need for violence."

The bear scoffed. "Do you know who I-"

"No," the vulpine said before the bear finished, "but I can see you're just a boastful drunken fool. I apologize for bumping into you. Now please, move."

The bear growled lowly. "You dare insult me?" He raised his paw high over his head and began to swing down on the enigma, aiming to slash the vulpine's face with his powerful claws. The vulpine side stepped dodging the claw by a mere centimeter before he threw a punch toward the bear's chest. The mighty grizzly felt nothing. "That all?" he questioned, looking down with a mocking smirk.

That smirk vanished when he saw that the vulpine's arm had actually went into his chest. It phased through. "Wha-what the-?"

"A magic trick," the enigma in white told him. "Now for the finale." The vulpine clenched his open gloved hand that was wrapped around the bear's heart. The bear let out an 'uff' sound as his heart was crushed within his chest. The enigma pulled out his hand, leaving no hole in the bear's chest before he barely pushed on the standing corpse, causing it to collapse to the floor.

The fox in white walked over the cadaver and over to the bar with the eyes of the various patrons staring at him in astonishment. All except for Wolf who was busy with his drink. "Are you Wolf McDonald?" the vulpine asked, taking off his hood, revealing a white furred face with dark blue hair along with red shades covering his eyes. Blue fur of a Cerinian was also present, visible on the sides of his neck. He seemed around his mid fifties.

Wolf looked at the vulpine and was surprised to see another Cerinian besides Krystal, but only huffed before returning to his drink. "Who wants to know?" the lupine responded rudely.

"Someone that wants to offer you a job," the Cerinian answered. That caught the lupine's attention.

"And what would that be?" Wolf questioned.

"An expedition into the ruins of Aquas," the vulpine told him. "I know of a treasure buried there. It'll be yours as payment."

"What's in it for you?" Wolf asked. "Who are you anyway?"

"Archaeological finds, more or less," was the answer. "As for who I am... You can call me Fade."

"Fade huh?" Wolf gulpped down his last drink. "Deal, but that treasure had better be real."

"If it isn't, I'll be sure to pay you the appropriate price for your service," Fade told him, "I'll contact you when the expedition is all set." With that, Fade walked out of the bar, walking over the dead bear once more.

Wolf huffed. "An expedition huh?... Better be worth it."

_Kew_

Hours after landing on the planet and after finishing reading the files, Skye had Caim and Kayla looking for any aquatic gear they could use on their trip to Aquas. Skye himself was looking over their current gear. Their rebreather masks and piloting suits, with some modifications, would work for being outside in the water, and their food supply was fully stocked. They probably wouldn't finish their search in just one day, but if Skye was right about the treasure being somewhere in the northern region of the planet, then it shouldn't take too long. Worst case scenario is they run into a giant fish that would attack them or Nevran escapes and comes for his treasure by tomorrow. Whatever happens, Skye believed he and his crew could handle what came at them.

Elsewhere, Caim and Kayla had actually found a place in the city that sold submarines and other equipment they could use. Kayla and Caim were looking at a small sub that fit what Skye was looking for. It was a design similar to a Landmaster tank, but lacked the gun and came equipped with sonar and depth charges. It was simple, in good condition, and had multiple types of tracking they could use in their search. It was perfectly what they needed.

"We got lucky in finding this," Kayla said with a smiled.

"Heh, no doubt," Caim agreed. "I'm still surprised this planet even has a place like this let alone selling subs."

"I know," Kayla said with a nod. "I'll go talk to the owner about the sub. You look around for whatever else we could need." Caim nodded and watched Kayla go, looking low and grinning widely. "Eyes up!" Kayla shouted back at Caim, startling the crow.

"How'd you-" he began, but Kayla answered before he could finish.

"Because I know you, Caim," Kayla told him. "Now grab our gear and stop staring at my ass." As soon as she turned around again, Caim stuck his tongue out at her.

"So mean," Caim muttered bitterly. He looked around the place for more equipment, like a harpoon gun they could use underwater in case leaving the sub seemed necessary.

When everything was gathered, Kayla and Caim headed off. Their new submarine with all their new aquatic gear would be at their ship within the hour. For now, Caim and Kayla were walking along the streets of Kew, looking around. The city wasn't as glorious as Corneria's capital, but at least it wasn't like Venom where the entire place seems like a desolate wasteland pretending to be a city with it's crumbling buildings and consistent gang wars. Without Andross, Venom was just a wreck left behind by the rest of the Lylat. Thing is with Kew, it was a middle ground between Venom and Corneria with the city being, well, not a wreck like Venom, but has more crime than Corneria.

"Get back here!" came a female voice with a British accent. The vixen and crow looked to the source of the outburst and saw a blue vixen with dark violet hair chasing after a dark red lizard.

Caim blew a low whistle. "She's hot," he commented with a smirk. That smirk quickly off the bird's beak vanished after being smacked in the back of his head. Caim put his hand on the spot that was just smacked and turned to Kayla. "_Che cosa è stato fatto_? (What was that for?) " he whined in Italian. "I didn't do anything!"

"You were thinking bad thoughts," Kayla said nonchalantly. Truth is she didn't care as long as Caim didn't do anything stupid.

"I wasn't thinking of how that body looked under the skin tight catsuit," Caim said, obviously a lie. "I was thinking..." He ran off after the blue vixen and the lizard before Kayla could react. "I'll give her a hand!"

"Caim!" Kayla called at him. Seeing that he was already turning the corner into an alley, the red vixen blew an irritated sigh. "Better not take too long," she growled under her breath before turning back around and walking in the direction of the spaceport where their ship was at.

Kursed couldn't believe how lucky the lizard she was chasing was. She had a good trap set up, but the lizard's cronies got in the way. This was supposed to be an easy bounty. Cheap unlike most Kursed took up, but the guy was a boss of a small time gang that hung out around her apartment's street and they were getting annoying, keeping the Cerinian awake when she was trying to sleep with their late night meetings in the alley. Worse part was that they didn't even do anything. The gang were just a bunch of violent punks with guns, like any other gang. She could probably shoot the guy's legs and be done with it, but Kursed wanted to have some fun first.

The lizard, Killswitch they called him, grabbed a trash can and tipped it over as he ran past in an attempt to slow the bounty hunter down. That plan was a bust as all Kursed did was jump over the pathetic obstacle and continued the chase. The lizard then pulled out a gun and began shooting Kursed behind him. The bounty hunter dived behind a dumpster to take cover from the gunfire. Killswitch then turned his head back to look where he was running. The exit to the alley was in sight. Almost there... and... He tripped over an unseen wire and fell toward the concrete face first.

"Oooo," came an Italian accented voice. Killswitch looked over at the source to see a crow in an orange jacket looking down at him with a smirk drawn on his face. "That just had to hurt _amico mio_ (my friend). So, how does concrete taste?" Killswitch growled and responded by pulling his gun on Caim, but was far to slow compared to the gunslinger that had drawn his own blaster on the street punk. "Just try it," Caim told him, deathly serious in his tone with his smirk gone, "Amateurs like you aren't even worth pulling the trigger." With that, Caim killed the lizard in the head, knocking him out. Caim sighed and put away his gun as he flexed his left pinky finger, retracting the razor wire he used. Were the wire any thinner, the guy would be bleeding.

Kursed saw the whole thing and was walking over to the crow and downed reptile. She glared at the crow when she questioned, "Who are you? A bounty hunter?" Kursed didn't really think he was a bounty hunter, but just asked.

Caim shook his head. "Not today," he answered truthfully. Though he, Skye, and Kayla were pirates, they also did bounty hunting on the side. "I just thought I'd lend a hand."

"I could have handled it," Kursed told him with a sigh. She reached for a pair of hand cuffs attached to her belt and began to cuff Killswitch.

"I'm sure you could," Caim looked at her face and gave a small smile, "but your beautiful face caught my eye and I couldn't wait for you to catch a..." Caim didn't really care what kind of criminal the unconscious lizard was, "whatever he is. But now..." The crow looked closer at her as his expression turned to one of curiosity. "...You look familiar for some reason. I know we have never met, but I always remember a pretty face."

Kursed backed away from Caim when the crow moved closer. The vixen formerly known as Krystal wouldn't expect a complete stranger to start to recognize her. "I guess I just have that kind of face," she tried weakly.

'Lame way to hide something.,' Caim thought toward her comment, 'Not a lot of people have blue fur. Only Cerinians do.' He backed off, surprising Kursed. "Maybe you do have that face," he lied, pretending to fall for the excuse, surprising Kursed more though she didn't show it on her face. "Sorry for the trouble," the crow said, bowing lowly to the Cerinian vixen.

"It was no problem," Kursed assured the crow who began to rise.

Caim nodded. "It was a pleasure, miss...?"

"Kursed," the ex-Star Fox member told him.

"Of course," Caim said with a sly grin, "I am Caim. It was a pleasure meeting you, miss Kursed. I hope our paths cross again in the future." With that, the crow took his leave. 'So this is where the great Krystal has been hiding,' he though as he walked on in the direction of the spaceport.

Kursed blew a heavy sigh of relief. "Hopefully he didn't recognize me..." she muttered to herself. "Is there something wrong with my disguise?" she wondered aloud before making to turn Killswitch in.

It was about half and hour later before Caim made it back to the _Vela_ which now had the new sub attached to the underside of it. It appeared that everything was all set and ready to go.

"Back already?" Kayla questioned with a grin, "I thought she'd reject you," she said smugly.

"Yeeeeaaah, it didn't work out so well," Caim chuckled, pretending the reason was rejection as Kayla suggested, though he didn't bother to mention that he thought the vixen was Krystal. He'd recognize the beautiful face of that famous blue vixen anywhere. She's in his top ten favorite celebrity hotties.

Skye closed the book he was reading when Caim came aboard the bridge. "Well, now that you're here," he spoke, "we can take off now." Caim and Kayla nodded and went to their stations. "Set a course for Aquas."

"Aye aye," his crewmates said simultaneously.

_Above Planet Venom_

Fade sat aboard the bridge of his carrier ship, the _Shade_, a black and silver colored vessel designed for carrying fighter crafts like Arwings and other vehicles that'd be needed, and as a mobile research ship. When Wolf and the rest of Star Wolf arrived, landing their crafts in the hangar, Fade looked out a nearby window into the great vastness of space. 'I wonder what I'll find there,' the Cerinian thought to himself. 'What sort of secrets do you expect me to find there, Noah?'

"Set a course for Aquas," Fade commanded his subordinates on the bridge.

**That's the end of this chapter. Be sure to Review it.**

**Caim: That's all you're gonna say?**

**Yeah... You have anything better?**

**Caim: … No...**

**That's what I thought... Though I will note that I really increased my word count this time. I must be getting my edge back. I hope at least.**


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